Traditionals in the Trades?

Groove, that's an SAK I could warm up to. Side note: I will be with family on the Islands this weekend closing my uncle's camp.

Modoc ED said:
Sometime in the 1970s (early 70s I think) I bought this Buck 112 in the Ship's Store on a ship I was serving on. I drilled a hole through the rear bolsters in order to put a string through it. I mostly only carried it when working over the side or up on the Mast working on an antenna, etc.. I also liked to carry it when on shore duty in the Philippines, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian tropical climates.

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In my opinion, this is how a Buck should look. Just perfect. I'm reminded of a saying among serious bike riders and racers. "Ridden hard and put away wet." One writer calls the ensuing signs of wear and tear "beausage", that is, the beauty that only comes from hard usage.

Thanks for posting this.
 
Interessting thread...

I use my traditionals on work, everyday. Though I could carry modern knives, I don´t do that. Why? I don´t know. It might have something to do, the spirit traditional knives are having around. And 100 % sheeple friendly. I like how the patina is coloring and the feeling of the handles during work. I use them for any cutting task that has to be done - food prep, opening mails, packages, taking samples of materials for further information etc etc...
 
A lot of the guys I work with carry traditional knives. Mostly the "older" guys, the captains and mates on the tug boats, who are in their 50s or 60s. Most of the younger guys carry cheap OHO knives or folding box-cutters. I suppose I'm an anomaly; I'm 30, and I always have at least two "traditional" pocket knives, and I use them at work all the time. Sometimes I'll also have a OHO knife, if I know I'm going to be working atop a mast all day for example, but not always.
 
Groove said:
I've really tried to use my traditional knives at work with limited success. I'm a jet engine mechanic working in a test run facility which leaves my hands in a perpetual state of grunge. Subjecting my beautiful bone and stag handled knives to jet fuel, oil, and various other solvents doesn't work for me. I've used my GEC Bullnose quite a bit and I love it, but I frequently find myself needing a small blade, or a screwdriver (while I'm up on a ladder), or a scraper/poker/jabbermajig. My solution is the ALOX SAK! It just makes sense for me, and believe it or not the saw gets used when I'm rebuilding test equipment.

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as far as I am concerned (and i think the majority of those in this subforum) would consider an alox sak to be fairly traditional
so your one of us and just didnt realize it :D :thumbup:
 
jackknife said:
... They were expected to be just used up and replaced with no sentiment attached to them. To the peasant, it's just a cheap tool. Only us mutants, the obsessed knife knut, will put value on a knife beyond what it is designed to do.

Carl.
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That's why the old ones in great shape are so rare. :)

I'm going to offer something up and I welcome any opinions on it. I think that it goes further than just that some people get sentimental about knives while to others it is just a cheap tool that cuts things. It has been my experience that this sentimentality is larger and holds for tools, and rifles, and pickup trucks and whatever. To some they are simply tools... they would laugh that my pickup is named Betsy and is considered a member of the family.

I remember when my old truck was broken into and the set of tools I inherited from my grandad were stolen. It was a blow that still gives me heartburn if I think about it too much. It wasn't just that I had to spend the money to buy another set while a flat broke and struggling grad student. It was also that my opportunity to twist the wrenches and work with the ratchets my own grandfather had once held in his hands was lost forever.

To some of us tools are almost sacred... they mean more than just something used to get a job done they are also a tie to our craft, something that allow us to do things we are proud of.

I'm not worried about traditional knives disappearing. They are far too practical and useful for that to happen any time soon. BUT I do think we may see some evolution in their design in the future. I would not be a bit surprised to see traditional knife design changed to accommodate a locking mechanism on a lot more styles. I would not be surprised if materials like micarta and the like make big inroads in the traditional lines. And all that may be just what the doctor ordered. Look at the changes that the old fashioned turnbolt rifle has gone through over the last century. It doesn't have to be old fashioned to be old school.

At least in my very humble opinion.

Will
 
jackknife said:
Yeah, they may be the box cutters of the day. As knife knuts, we forget that most of the rest of the world gets their cutting done by some pretty mundane cutting tools. The working man, the peasant of any age, won't spend a lot of money on a knife. All they want to do is cut something. The peasant in China, eastern Europe, the American west, the big city dock worker or warehouse worker, all will use a cheap but serviceable knife. The humble sodbuster, the Opinel and Douk-Douk, the Barlow, friction folder sheppards knife, were the superknife of the day. They were expected to be just used up and replaced with no sentiment attached to them. To the peasant, it's just a cheap tool. Only us mutants, the obsessed knife knut, will put value on a knife beyond what it is designed to do.

Carl.
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Boiled to the essence of the thing, and as usual, spot on. My 40 years in the trades agree with all points, especially the last sentence.

Nicely said, Carl.

Robert
 
pinnah said:
Groove, that's an SAK I could warm up to. Side note: I will be with family on the Islands this weekend closing my uncle's camp.



In my opinion, this is how a Buck should look. Just perfect. I'm reminded of a saying among serious bike riders and racers. "Ridden hard and put away wet." One writer calls the ensuing signs of wear and tear "beausage", that is, the beauty that only comes from hard usage.

1970sbuck112nonailnick1.jpg


Thanks for posting this.
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pinna - Thanks for posting your thoughts on my Buck 112 . I never polish brass bolsters on any knife. I just wipe them down with an oily rag along with the covers and let it go at that. I will however remove any of that blue-green grunge that accumulates sometimes when such a knife is carried in a leather sheath.

It doesn't look like it because the blade isn't worn down but the knife pictured has been sharpened many many times. I have used mostly a sharpening steel, crock sticks, and sometimes a coarse/fine Norton India Stone to sharpen it through the years.
 
I'm an archaeologist by trade, working the university nowadays, but still in the field each summer (and from time to time). It seems like everytime one of my colleagues pulls out a knife (in the field or out), it's a SAK. Usually of the Victorinox variety.

Edit to add: My EDC is a SAK. During annual summer field schools I carry a SwissChamp, and it has been invaluable for everything from sharpening a trowel to cutting roots, paper, mapping/drawing, taking a closer look at artifacts in the field, etc., even my lunch...and the lack of locking blades haven't caused the loss of a finger, yet.

For the purposes I've mentioned above, a tactical folder, or regular multitool really wouldn't have any advantage over my SAK, and the SAK has more "style" IMO (and is usually "put together" better than the average MT). The SAK is also generally smaller and lighter the pocket, or on the belt than my multitools. As a matter of fact, even those who hadn't carried a SAK previously, after seeing how useful my SAK is, are ready to go out and buy their own. Shoot if SAKs weren't already my favorite, just reading my comments here, would make me want to go out and buy one.:p
 
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I work as a Ranger in a National Park over here in the UK. Like most of my colleagues I still carry an Opinel most of the time. They have endured as the cheap, practical knife on sale at most farm supplies/hardware stores. The rest of the time I carry my Bullnose work knife by GEC. I've been really impressed by it. At the same time I've been worried about losing/breaking it so perversely I've picked up a couple of cheaper, Sodbuster type knives. They didn't last long! I guess my appreciation of a better quality finish has made me my own worst enemy (sound familiar...?)!

I've tried quite a few modern folders, yes one hand opening is handy but darn pocket clips get caught on everything! They tend to be uncomfortable, big and scary looking (I work with the public a lot) and don't actually cut that well, often because the manufacturer has put an obtuse bevel on it to reduce the chances of the supersteel edge chipping and consequent returns....!

I'm happy right here:)

Sam
 
Sam, a Ranger should carry a Ranger. See Ed's nice one above.

Oh, are lockers legal in the UK?
 
pinnah said:
Sam, a Ranger should carry a Ranger. See Ed's nice one above.

Oh, are lockers legal in the UK?
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Ha, ha:)

I have got one, the finger grooved version. Personally I'm not a big fan of the hollow ground blade, it's not the best for deep cutting firm materials like green wood. It's a heavy knife too, especially as I'm already carrying a Swiss Spirit multi tool. Finally I'm not that impressed with their 420 HC steel. I thing if Buck produced some of their models like the Ecolite with FFG in different steel I'd take look.

Yes you can carry a locking knife in the UK a long as you have a legitimate reason for carry, e.g. your trade involves using them. The classic example would be a chef but you can see how it is a woolly definition....

Sam
 
Yeah if you were a carpenter or plumber or something I imagine you could legally carry a locking knife in the UK. Just not while walking through town in your Sunday best while you do some shopping. It's a contextual law.
 
<thread drift>

Sam, I use my knives for cutting back brush on my property, for fire starting when camping and for occasional, crude, ham-fisted whittling. Nothing I've used goes through wood like the convex Opinel. Amazing. And for a long time, I thought concaved blade were hopeless for wood. Our very own Obsessed with Edges (aka Dave) shared a tip that has transformed my Bucks for wood work.

Put some 2000 grit wet/dry paper on a flat surface (strop board will work) and lay the blade flat on the paper. It will touch at the top shoulder of the concave grind near the spine and it will touch on the upper shoulder of the cutting edge bevel, where the bevel meets the grind. It will not touch on the apex of the cutting bevel. Work the knife on the paper with edge trailing strokes. This will polish and round off the shoulder of edge. The issue, as OwE explains it, is that with a concave grind, the angle created by the shoulder is more acute, owing to the thinner grind. Rounding the shoulder sort of creates an easy to make convex transition.

I've found that my Bucks all go through wood much, much, much easier now that I do this as a finishing step in sharpening. They're a joy to whittle with. And I no longer cuss at their inability to produce shavings for fires. I the Opinel is a 10 for shavings, the Bucks are now a 8.5 or 9 where they used to be a frustrating 4 or 5.

Would love to hear about what struggles you've had with 420HC. I find it much better than 440A but not as durable as 440C. Much easier to sharpen than 440C though.

</drift>
 
pinnah said:
<thread drift>

Sam, I use my knives for cutting back brush on my property, for fire starting when camping and for occasional, crude, ham-fisted whittling. Nothing I've used goes through wood like the convex Opinel. Amazing. And for a long time, I thought concaved blade were hopeless for wood. Our very own Obsessed with Edges (aka Dave) shared a tip that has transformed my Bucks for wood work.

Put some 2000 grit wet/dry paper on a flat surface (strop board will work) and lay the blade flat on the paper. It will touch at the top shoulder of the concave grind near the spine and it will touch on the upper shoulder of the cutting edge bevel, where the bevel meets the grind. It will not touch on the apex of the cutting bevel. Work the knife on the paper with edge trailing strokes. This will polish and round off the shoulder of edge. The issue, as OwE explains it, is that with a concave grind, the angle created by the shoulder is more acute, owing to the thinner grind. Rounding the shoulder sort of creates an easy to make convex transition.

I've found that my Bucks all go through wood much, much, much easier now that I do this as a finishing step in sharpening. They're a joy to whittle with. And I no longer cuss at their inability to produce shavings for fires. I the Opinel is a 10 for shavings, the Bucks are now a 8.5 or 9 where they used to be a frustrating 4 or 5.

Would love to hear about what struggles you've had with 420HC. I find it much better than 440A but not as durable as 440C. Much easier to sharpen than 440C though.

</drift>
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That's a cunning plan, will give that a dry:)

You never know it may improve my patience with the 440HC too.

Sam
 
The owner of the nearest cattle auction carries a full-sized Eye Brand sodbuster with the blade about half worn away and pure black. He told me he usually carries a Case yellow handled trapper but one of the backsprings broke so he had his spare.
 
Approaching 29 years in the Air Force.....

I have camo SAK Tinker, bought at the BX in '91, that has accompanied me on each deployment. A rugged old stand by, that knife.

I usually have a stockman of some kind...a small or medium Old Timer, or a Buck 303, when wearing blues. In ABUs, a large stockman (Buck 307 or Old Timer 8OT).

I've got a few tacticals, but the only advantage they have over my traditionals is I don't care what happens to a tactical.
 
thats because the army has PX's and the Air Force has BX's
not sure what the marines/navy guys have...
 
My Grandfather is a retired lather and carried his small 2 bladed traditional pen knife along with his Stanley. The guys I shoot with and against, "trap shooting" are predominantly tradesman, I see lots of multi-tools and pocket clips. The only traditional I can remember seeing around the gun club is a Camillus USN.
 
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